285/75 or 285/70 --- R17

Gotta get new tires soon.

I currently have a worn out set of Nitto Terra Grappler 285/70R17s on Dick Cepek DC-1s. I have yet to really make it offroad with them since I got them very used (traded for the rims). I do minimal offroading, but I want to be able to go anywhere I want (within reason) when hunting, trail riding, beach driving etc... With that said, my last truck, I put about 95K miles on before I sold it. Probably 1K of those miles were offroad. So comparatively, not that many, but I did make it off the pavement quite a lot into the swamp, on the beach, and other random places. But the rest of the 94K miles were all on the road and a waste of some Cooper STTs that I sold it with.

I have about a 3.25" lift right now with an ARB (so no rubbing issues right now with absolutely no trimming running the 285/70R17s). I don't mind mild trimming, but I don't want to do a cab mount chop. I am looking at upping to a 285/75R17 in either a Nitto Terra Grappler or Toyo AT, or sticking with a 28570R17 in a BFG AT, Nitto Terra Grappler, or Toyo AT. Which one would you all recommend? I don't flex a ton, so no real need to stuff my tires and mostly I'm looking to do beach driving and coastal construction site driving (work).

Also, I ran some 315/70R17 BFGs on my last truck and a guy with 305 Nittos pulled beside me and they had a wider foot print than my 315s So would going with a 285 BFG give me less of a foot print and better MPGs? The weight difference is negligible.

As a side note, I'm interested in getting better MPGs, but I realize that (1) I'm driving a truck; (2), its lifted; (3) I have a plate bumper and a winch on there.... I'm not looking to get 30 MPGs, but a few more wouldn't hurt. And plus I like the look of the 285s much better than 265s... at least when I compared to my old rims:







Thoughts?

 

Bump

 

You realize a 285/75/17 is almost a 34" tire right? Even if you don't flex much, you will have rubbing when you turn, and backing up, and going up small inclines while turning.

 

Yes, 33.83", but my 285/70s are 32.7" so just a hair over an inch more in diameter. I know one guy who runs nitto trail grapplers in 285/75r17 - or at least his build page said that. I know it'll be tight, but that's why I asked. I'm new to the tacoma still and my f150 could fit a 35 with just a level kit, so its quite a change from that to this.... I mean I like the 285/70s just fine, I was just hoping for some more height in the tire.

 

The wheel wells of the F150 are way bigger than the taco. Even stepping up from a 265/65 to a 265/70 might rub (depending on the aggressiveness of the tire).

 

trade in your taco for a v6 domestic if you want better mileage. The new chevys fords and rams get like 24-25 mpg highway

 

He is not running a 285/75R17 Trial Grappler with no cab mount chop and no rubbing. I had rubbing AFTER cab mount chop with 285/70R17 Trail Grapplers and had to set caster over 3.5 (the maximum I could get) to get clearance.

 

Yeah but then id have to lift it and be back down to 14mpg again lol

 

Okay, well then I guess that answered my question then. I don't think I can get my caster over 3.5" with OEM UCAs. And I don't want to chop my cab mount.


So what would be your guys reccomendation between the bfg, nitto, and toyo?

 

True that. I suppose I could see that rubbing. I only rubbed right when I switched to the 285, but since I upgraded to coils I haven't had an issue.

 

What is the wheel backspace you are running with your 285/70/17s? If you are able to avoid rub, this may be the answer.
I am running the Toyo ATII C class load rating and get rub with nearly 3" of lift from my Icon coil overs.